Similarity In The Media

Women are used in the media as decoration objects, and they are often sexualized on their appearance. The media uses this representation of women as a way to sell beauty products: skin care, body care, and hair care. This creates certain expectations of what a typical woman should be. Women according to media assumptions should be well maintained and beautiful. The media also interprets women mainly in home setting taking care of family life. Therefore, products used in housework are mainly aimed towards women. For example, laundry supplies, dishwashing liquid, and vacuums. The #1 American Target Advertisement used this type of assumption when they put all of the cleaning supplies in the woman’s cart instead of the man’s

There are many different products developed that are designed to help people alter their bodies in some way. Some of these products are tanning lotions/sprays, body sprays/lotions of odor, shavers, nail cutters, trimmers, acme medicine, wrinkle lotions, different types of make-up, hair dyes, hair straighteners and curlers, anti-aging creams, and many other different things. The advertisements for these different products preach all different kinds of messages to men and women alike. Women’s products and commercials typically promise men will want them, they will look 10 years younger, they will lose as much weight as they want without really doing anything, and that they will look like the models they use in the commercials. Some of the gender messages that are being sent by these advertisements

Advertisers have been using masculinity and femininity to sell since the early 1900’s and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. This is a controversial topic and has been heavily discussed within recent years.

Steve Craig, in his article Men’s Men and Women’s Women especially define how different sexes in advertisement can influence a particular audience towards a product; one stereotypical method he describes is “Men’s Women” (Craig).One such ad using sex appeal, and a basic structure of “Men’s Women” to bring in customer was made by BMW in 2008 to sell their used cars. BMW, which is a world-renowned company known for its performance heavy automobiles, targets a male audience by comparing a gorgeous woman to their cars.This ad by BMW, who no doubt make amazing cars, degrade women through its message, and it enforces Steve Craig’s “Men’s women” tactic, but this ad also goes a step further and displays the ever-present patriarchy in advertisement overtly.

The first advertisements viewed looked at were of women and men being objectified by being barely dressed and posed in provocative positions. The objectification of women has been a prominent issue for women’s rights activists, but men are rarely seen as being objectified. The first advertisement observed was a Budweiser ad. This ad showed an oversize bottle of beer with a fit woman leaning against it wearing a red bikini. The woman is lying up against the bottle in a provocative manner. This ad is suggesting that the woman is just as good to “consume” as the beer itself. It is also a great example of how companies strategize to get peoples attention. This ad is clearly geared towards men who then buy this

Regardless of race or gender people in today’s society have probably seen something on the media and have strived to be more like that image. Women objectification is very common like in Alabama’s sorority recruitment video, they only showed the prettiest of girls with the nicest body; the whole video did not tell of any offers or why an individual should come to their college, instead it only showed girls playing around in bikinis or minimal clothing (WKRGNews). Although this recruitment video was later taken down due to the controversy it caused, it shows that women objectification is out there and very common. Men are similar to women in the fact that they are also objectified. Objectifying men is seen as not as big of a problem than female objectification but it is equally important. Magic Mike XXL objectifies men by portraying Mark Wahlberg and other actors with great bodies by dancing and other classic chick flick scenes (WarnerBrosPicture). Actors in movies like Magic Mike XXL make the average man look plain disappointing as well as women in magazines or other movies. The average person in today's society can differentiate between flawless and average but none the less objectification of men and women occur frequently in the

Sexist ads show that society is dominated by the same masculine values that have controlled the image of women in the media for years. Sexist advertisement reinforces gender stereotypes and roles, or uses sex appeal to sell products, which degrades the overall public perception of women. The idea that sexism is such a rampant problem comes from the stereotypes that are so deeply embedded into today’s society that they almost seem to be socially acceptable, although they are nowhere near politically correct. Images that objectify women seem to be almost a staple in media and advertising: attractive women are plastered all over ads. The images perpetuate an image of the modern woman, a gender stereotype that is reinforced time and time again by the media. These images are accepted as “okay” in advertising, to depict a particular product as sexy or attractive. And if the product is sexy, so shall be the consumer. In the 1970s, groups of women initially took issue with the objectification of women in advertisements and with the limited roles in which these ads showed women. If they weren’t pin-ups, they were delicate

Multimillion dollar companies frame women as submissive beings, and focus on their appearance. They have to sell the woman’s body in order for them to make a profit for their products. There is a disproportionate portrayal of women in the media as sexual beings rather than intellectual beings. As a result, men focus on the sexual nature of the woman and disregard the intellectual capacity of the woman, which allows men to objectify women.

Stay at home dads are always made fun of, and even insulted, because the majority of society believes that it is the 'mans job' to take care of his family- so he is seen as weak if he isn't accomplishing this. Men are also demeaned if they take a position in a 'woman's job' (i.e. nurse, secretary, daycare provider), because it is not seen as a manly thing to do. Some people, especially other men, will even question these men's sexuality or 'manliness' when they hold these types of jobs. But on the flip side of this, some men are called 'sensitive' and 'caring' if they are a stay at home dad or hold a female job position- which can be a

In earlier chapter we talked about the role media play in constructing gender roles and

Advertisements have been evolving over the centuries in terms of catching the audience’s attention. The art, text, and style all have been changed, but one hasn’t. The gender stereotypes in advertisement have been constant throughout time and product. A company called Old Spice has displayed these stereotypes in their product line specifically towards men.

It is also noticeable, that in a lot of ads women appear dominant and aggressive. They make the first move and men apparently play victims, or a "sex object", as Kilbourne noticed. Advertisements for the body spray for men, Tag, say, "WARNING, the makers of Tag Body Spray will not be held liable should your attraction to your Tag – wearing boyfriend cause you to engage in behavior that grandma may consider ‘unladylike'"; the picture is as impressive as the warning. The first thought that popped in my mind was "would only the grandma consider such behavior unladylike?" I do not think so. The second one was about the actual capability of a man to attract a woman. The real picture occurs if we reverse the subject and the object. Imagine a man on top of a woman, as it is shown in the ad, the result will be terrifying – it would look like a rape. Kilbourne says, "Although these ads are often funny, it is never a good thing for human to be objectified. However, there is a world difference between the objectification of men and that of women. The most important difference is that there is no danger for most men, whereas objectified women are always at risk," pointing out a very interesting fact: nobody would take seriously an ad where a woman abuses a man., but if reversed, it would be very realistic and true (464). Men are never concerned about daily protection,

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

The sexualisation of women in advertising has become a very prominent and controversial issue in today’s society. Many brands, products and campaigns we are presented with portray women as being available and willing sexual objects, who exist to cater to the male gender. Gucci is one such brand that does this, focusing on emphasizing the sexual appeal of the female gender in order to sell their products, because as advertisers know: ‘sex sells.’ This new cultural shift can however, be seen as politically regressive for women, as the ideology it brings negatively impacts how women are viewed by society and how they view themselves.

Gender role bias in advertisements has been so prevalent for so long that the untrained eye wouldn't even discern it. All the same, these biases, for the most part, put women in subordinate positions and men in dominant ones. This assumption on both the genders is unfair and demeaning. These ads portray women as subservient and play toys for men. Not only do the models depict an image nowhere near close to reality, but their bodies are scantily clad and what few clothes they are wearing are very revealing.